Like magical gator wings, the Tarte Grav3yardgirl Swamp Queen Eye & Cheek Palette has been flying off shelves, as it is easily one of the most sought-after makeup launches this summer.

The palette contains:

Nine eyeshadows

A bronzer

A blush

A highlighter

An eye-makeup brush

A powerhouse collaboration between YouTube personality, Bunny Meyer (aka Grav3yardgirl) and Tarte combine for makeup madness (in a good way)!

(Previously, I reviewed and swatched the Tarte Tarteist Texas Toast Lip Paint. Check out that blog post for my thoughts on Grav3yardgirl. I wrote quite a lot about her there, so I won’t be repeating it here.)

Those in the United States could find the Tarte Grav3ywardgirl Swamp Queen palette in some ULTA and Macy’s stores. My fellow Canadians were only able to track it down on Sephora’s website, however it’s now out of stock.

If you’re a Swamp Family member or a beauty junkie looking to add Tarte Swamp Queen to your makeup collection, don’t worry. You still have a shot of getting your hands on it, as it will officially debut in Sephora stores tomorrow (July 8)!

I decided to review the Tarte Grav3yardgirl Swamp Queen Eye & Cheek Palette in-depth today in case it helps you decide whether or not this is something worth splurging on.

See the rest of this post for photos of the palette, close-ups of each colour, swatches of everything, and my thoughts on the formula and packaging.

EDIT (Monday November 28, 2016): The Tarte Cosmetics’ website has the Swamp Queen palette on sale for their Cyber Monday deal for just $30 CAD! One day only.

The Roast Yourself Challenge is the latest trend, and while I am a fan of the clever and punny Ryan Higa (aka nigahiga on YouTube) who started it, this beauty junkie is sticking to the Texas Toast Yourself Challenge. What? You haven’t heard of that one? Probably because I just made it up now. 😉

Raise your cup of sweet tea, and give a toast to Texas Toast!

Grav3yardgirl x Tarte Tarteist Texas Toast Lip Paint is a collaboration between the brand that creates my favourite everyday eyeshadow palettes and a popular YouTuber, Bunny Meyer (aka grav3yardgirl), who is in her 30s and has over seven million subscribers.

The Tarte Tarteist Texas Toast Lip Paint stirred up a frenzy in the beauty community, as fans and makeup enthusiasts scrambled to get their hands on one of three items in the collection. (The collection also includes the Swamp Queen Eye & Cheek Palette with brush and another Lip Paint called Swamp Family that’s red and an online exclusive, which sold out in a flash.

Nudes aren’t usually my thing, but since it was more of a muted mauve than something that resembled a concealer, I decided to give it a try. (Spoiler: Turns out, I enjoy it and found that it works very well with the warm, smoky eye look I created using the coordinating Swamp Queen palette. By the way, in the selfie above, I’m also wearing the eye shadows, blush, and highlighter from the same collection.)

Before I get into my detailed review of Tarte Texas Toast, I’d like to say a few words about Bunny and her ever-growing YouTube channel.

Grav3yardgirl: “Give an alligator its wings!”

I don’t watch every Grav3yardgirl video, but I have seen the majority of her hard work to get a good sense of her channel.

Bunny Meyer has an entertaining, quirky personality that grabs your attention by the collar and pulls you into places that you never thought you’d go!

Although we have very different personalities and aesthetics, what I respect and admire about her is that she is a free spirit who is comfortable in her own skin. She frequently vlogs without a stitch of makeup, with her hair in a sassy bun or other fun style, and while wearing t-shirts with intentional holes. Bunny also sometimes goes all out with a full face of makeup, has her own paper-doll book, and is known for wearing red lipstick that plays up her captivating blue eyes.

But what I love about her most is that she has an inclusive mentality to bring people together and to not discriminate or have a Mean Girls attitude. Even if you’re the outcast you are welcomed, appreciated, and accepted into what Grav3yardgirl has coined her Swamp Family.

Openly speaking about dealing with anxiety and her phobia of hospitals, she courageously touches on many issues that not a lot of big YouTubers discuss.

I applaud her for this because sharing helps us all learn and grow. Her experiences may indirectly help those who are dealing with something similar.

If you just graze the surface and are too quick to judge her based on her loud voice, large teeth, and seemingly unkempt appearance (when it comes to unrealistic beauty guru standards), you may not even give her channel a chance.

But as you watch her reveal funny thoughts, her love of creepy dolls and uncommon objects, and her ‘addiction’ to sweet tea, you develop a soft spot for her. And all those things you made snap judgments on, like her teeth, quickly become endearing characteristics, and you can’t imagine her looking any other way. That’s how I feel. She owns her look!

Her channel appeals to children, teenagers, adults, and seniors, which is quite remarkable. This is because her videos run the gamut from testing out As Seen on TV products, letting you follow her along while shopping (I always laugh when she does her Earth Worm Mode), swatching makeup, opening Swamp Family mail with a large kitchen knife, and casually car vlogging while doing her Sippy Sippy.

She is a unique snowflake.

I’ve never met her, but based on the content that she’s created over the year and how entertaining I find her, I support what she stands for: inclusivity and togetherness!

Check out the rest of my post to see photos, swatches, and to hear my thoughts on the Grav3yardgirl x Tarte Tarteist Texas Toast Lip Paint!

(EDIT: Monday November 28, 2016: The Tarte Cosmetics’ website has included the two Lip Paints, Texas Toast and Swamp Family, in their Cyber Monday Deal for just $15 CAD each! One day only.)

Since I had such a great experience with the quality, performance, and packaging of those, I felt compelled to try out the Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette. (It also didn’t hurt that it has a summery design with cute packaging!)

When it comes to eyeshadows, I have to be extremely picky, and I must read the ingredients list thoroughly (including the ‘may contain’ section). This is because I’m allergic to one popular eyeshadow ingredient. However, oddly, that ingredient only affects me when it comes into contact with my eyelids and/or face, but not with my nails when it’s in nail polish. (Thank goodness…because it’s also a popular ingredient in nail polish!)

After checking the ingredients list of the Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Eyeshadow Palette several times, I was so happy to see the ‘villainous’ ingredient was nowhere to be found. This meant that I could use all the colours – yay!

I’ve been trying out this palette for several weeks, and this post contains my thoughts, as well as if I think this palette is worth hunting down.

It’s both exciting and embarrassing to admit that I re-qualified for my second consecutive year of being a VIB Rouge member. (Maybe I need to join Sephora Junkies Anonymous. However, if there is such a group out there, I think we would just wind up talking about our favourite makeup items and then enable each other to buy more. Dangerous! We’re talkin’ Code Red or…Code ROUGE! Hehe, I can’t resist cheesy puns.)

Recently, Sephora had their much-anticipated VIB Sale, which only happens a couple of times each year, and it’s available to those who reach VIB and VIB Rouge membership. This time, the Sephora VIB Sale was for 20% off everything in-store and online.

Since I have a lot of favourites, I try to hold out until these sales, so I can stock up. But, of course there are always makeup products that wind up in my cart. (Don’t know how they sneak in there. Life’s greatest mystery. Or not.) *Shrugs shoulders and gives a sheepish grin*

While I don’t often post hauls, I thought I would do one this time because I really enjoy seeing other people’s Sephora VIB hauls. It’s a grown-up version of Show And Tell.

When I was in kindergarten, for Show And Tell, I would often just grab something random to bring to tell my classmates about.

Once, it was a piece of lint that I told the class was part of a cloud from Heaven. (After Show And Tell was over, I didn’t keep the story going. It was just a piece of lint again.)

Sometimes I would bring meaningful things to talk about, but I enjoyed making interesting stories about ‘boring’ objects or even just things that could be considered garbage. (Haha, one time, I brought in trash and explained how it was really a piece of history! Like nearly every kid, I was obsessed with time capsules.)

Well, I don’t have any lint or garbage to show you. Bummer, right?

Instead, I have my Sephora goodies that came in the mail yesterday! 🙂

When I returned home after having a lovely dinner out with a friend, I immediately picked up my camera and became a paparazzi.

This post just contains quick photos of what I got. If you’re interested in seeing a detailed review and additional photos of any of the items, let me know. (Not all the stuff is for me. I got some for my mom, so I’ll only be able to do reviews on the things I keep. I’ll indicate which ones I got for her.)

P.S. Ever since Wiz Khalifa’s album, Blacc Hollywood dropped, I’ve been listening to it almost on a daily basis. I think this is why whenever I read or write the word “haul”, his song “We Dem Boyz” plays in my head. Instead of “Hol’ up”, I think of it as “Haul-up”. Yeah, I know. Something just ain’t right with my mushball upstairs.